Choices We Make
by Proffesor I.P. Freely
Summary: The final battle. The lines were drawn, crossed, and tiptoed without knowing. Crane is a close friend of death, but the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 might have run out of luck.


Crane sighed, looking at Shaun. It wasn't fair. He had slaughtered his way across the commonwealth to find his boy, only to find him a man. Old enough that he could be Shaun's son. He had been told the Institute was this looming threat, it was easy to equate them to the communist threat. Of course, in the army, his unit was a bit more specialized.

Still, he had leaped at the chance to spend time with his son. He hadn't been convinced of the 'Commie' threat, and it was the same with this boogeyman. The Railroad had been easy to take out. He had been... friendly, with Deacon, but the man had lied and lied and _lied_. Each one had made Crane a little more mad, a little more distant. Bad intel had cost him more than was fair, and Deacon reminded him of the shit handlers that had costed him more than what was fair, even in war. Desdemonda had asked that he die for someone he didn't know, and sounded so superior when he answered in the negative. Even with his spotter and defense, there were two other people he would have died for, and Nora was a bloody frozen body.

The entire base had been easy to take out. The Institute had explosives, and the materials to wire them up to a trigger. It reminded him of C4, if less stable. The entire basement had collapsed while he headed to Greygarden. Deacon was acting as a guard as a favor, until Crane could make more defenses. He had been working on cleaning his rifle when a 10mm bullet had left Deliverer and entered his head.

Better that he die without knowing his 'one friend' had grown tired of the lies.

Oddly enough, when Shaun received news, he was more depressed than Crane at the news. They had been assets to the sniper, nothing more, and even when he assured his son of that... it was odd how pacifistic the older man had been.

Of course, now he was sneaking around the airport's on Shaun's orders. The Brotherhood had thought they were using him and his skill, but they were another means to an end. He had enjoyed teaching the squires, they had seemed like how he had thought Shaun would be. Of course, that hadn't been true.

"Explosives are in place Cait, are you ready with the shock troops?" HE asked, pushing the button on his radio. He was position on a nearby hill, his sniper rifle propped up, suppressor and bipod making sure his breathing and heart rate caused minimal issue. He had modified his armor for the same purpose.

"Of course I am lover boy. I gotta say, your new friends don't giving me dirty looks, they're gonna get me up boot up their arses" she responded, making Cane chuckle as he settled the stock against his cheek. The detonator was to his side, his hand resting on the button sheild. He had announced his allegiance, the Brotherhood were under no illusion he was on their side.

Still he hesitated. He was forgetting something, he knew it. Still, this was a job, he had to make sure the Institute, Shaun's home, would be safe. The lid was flipped open with his thumb, and he pressed the big red button. Almost instantly plumes of fire lit up the night sky, and klaxons sounded. The airship had lights lit up, sweeping the base, but Crane took those out easily. The Synths beamed in with light flashes, and made their way to the giant robot. He could see Cait easily, even in night, her hair a dead giveaway. She was laughing and blasting away the brotherhood with the shotgun he had given her. Even sober she was bloodthirsty. He took out the knights and the paladins. He had instructed the Synths, and Cait, that when the power armor helmets were off, he could hit their heads. All the armor in the world would do nothing if he splattered their brains in a macabre painting. Likewise, the knights lacked helmets as well.

The Scribes were a different matter. Their armor was basically leather, which was more or less nothing against a .308 round. They didn't even to be well trained as fighters, he could have left them alone and he doubted Cait or Virus would have been in much danger of them. Both made it to the robot's head, and Virus stuck his hand in, while Cait stood guard. She was bashing and firing, turning bodies into red mulch.

Crane, meanwhile, was eliminating any from the other side, taking out any who were in his crosshairs. It was a cycle, line up, hold breath, squeeze the trigger, repeat. Some went done with a neat circle and a more violent exit wound. Some of the heads were gone. None of it mattered. Line up, hold breath, squeeze. It was just like his unit, and were it not for the two hundred plus years of difference, it could have been. He sighted a paladin with a Fat-man. He was pointing the thing at Virus, and Cait was next to him. He recognized that weapon, he had modified it. Still the cycle kept. Line up, hold, squeeze.

Of course, the tactical nuke was a bit more volatile than a head, and even Danse's power armor couldn't keep him safe from a contact nuclear explosion. Guilt entered his mind. The man had been a fellow soldier, firm in his cause. Those feelings were boxed, and Crane kept to his cycle. Line, hold, squeeze. Don't think.

Cait was still laughing, even as Virus stood up, and shut down, toppling like a domino. He could see Liberty Prime point it's head at the airship, and Crane got on his radio,

"X6-88, get Cait out of there now!" he ordered into the radio, watching the lasers hit the Prydwen, igniting the hydrogen inside. He knew enough about basic chemistry, and he didn't want her anywhere near that thing when it detonated.

"Yes sir," came the reply. It seemed the synth was already making his way, his coat instantly distinguishing him from the white clad gen II's. Both were zapped by the relay, and reappeared next to Crane.

"Woah, warn me next time, I nearly shit me pants," Cait complained, while X6 turned to the sniper. Crane wasn't saying anything, merely watching at the ignited balloon went down in flames, exploding with tremendous force, even all the way out here. "Damn..." Cait said, her next insult fading.

"Crane. Father would like to speak to you, urgently." X6 repeated. Crane tore his eyes off the ship, looking at the shaded vision of the courser, nodding dumbly.

"Head... head back home Cait," he said, quietly, holding his pip-boy and clicking the dial.

"Are you sure yer all ri-" He didn't catch the rest as the relay zapped him back to the institute proper. The stairs seemed like a mountain as he walked up to the Director's quarters. Shaun was lying in bed. It looked like a futuristic coffin. The old man turned his head, it looked painful.

"It...is...done?" Shaun asked, each breath slow. Crane swallowed, and nodded, not trusting himself to talk, "Good. I only wish we had... more time." Crane had killed people. There was a box in his brain where things went in, and never left. Try as he might, he couldn't shove this into it. Either of the two circling thoughts, for that matter.

"I got to see you... the man you were," Crane replied, wiping his face. There was sweat and dirt mixing.

"Still... I would have preferred more." He sighed, or maybe he was just breathing, "I trust you will lead the Institute... I do have another gift. It is in the care of Doctor Li. I'm sorry I didn't release you sooner..."

"It's fine Shaun. I'd never hold it against you." Crane shook his head, not caring about any gift or reparation.

"I'm glad... and tired. So tired. I'm... going to sleep now." Shaun said, closing his eyes.

-Line Break-

The next few hours were blurry. Crane thought that he was formally deemed the Director, he probably slept, and went to the advanced system labs. He passed Doctor Li, who was saying something, but he ignored her, heading towards the reactor. He sat in front of it, watching the blue light spin in a gentle circle.

The Prydwen had squires on it. Children that he had trained, had watched him fight, and walked across the commonwealth with. He hadn't thought of them when Shaun had told him the plan. Hadn't thought of them as he took out the knight and paladins and scribes. He had only thought of it as the ship plummeted in flames to explode on the ground.

He looked at the pistol on his hands. A 10mm. A gun given to him by people who trusted him, only for him to shoot Deacon in the back of the head. _One left_. He closed his eyes.

"Dad?" He put the pistol down, turning to look at Shaun. No, not Shaun. The synth they had made to look like him... act like him as he was when he was ten. "Doctor Li said you were in here. Father gave me this and said to give it to you, but not listen. It sounded important." He smiled wide, not seeing the pistol in his dad's hand. Not guessing what he had stopped. Crane nodded, standing up and taking the tape, before hugging the little boy. He didn't care if it was a robot, man-made. Shaun had made him, and wanted Crane to not have worked in vain. The boy went off to bed after the hug and a 'night dad!'

Crane put the holotape in, fingering the pistol at his hip.

" _If you are hearing this,"_ it was Shaun's voice, " _then my time has come..."_


End file.
